The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 31

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 31
‘Where could it be?’
Where on earth was he taking her?
Tiel’s questions were answered soon enough.
Cassius had lifted her into his arms and was heading toward Alpius’s chambers.
‘Did Grandfather summon me?’
Cassius set Tiel down gently.
The hem of her dress brushed her shins. Tiel grasped Cassius’s hand and straightened at once.
“Let’s go in.”
The moment Cassius finished speaking, the guards posted at the door swung it open for them.
The massive doors moved smoothly, without a sound.
“Grandfather—”
Tiel’s smile bloomed, and Alpius, who had maintained a stern expression all this while, broke into a broad grin.
Alpius strode forward and scooped Tiel into his arms.
“Tiel, how are you feeling? I came by earlier, but you were fast asleep, so I didn’t want to wake you.”
“I’m well! Father, Ria, Ferdi, and Ludian took wonderful care of me. Thank you for worrying about me, Grandfather.”
The moment the word “Father” left Tiel’s lips, Cassius and Alpius’s eyes met. Both men smiled softly.
Alpius cradled Tiel as one might a tiny child, patting her back as he spoke in a soothing tone.
“That’s good, but you mustn’t do anything like that again. I trust Cassius has told you as much.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t!”
Tiel nodded vigorously, her eyes bright with earnest conviction.
Alpius watched his granddaughter and let out an unguarded laugh.
“Good. I believe you.”
Alpius moved forward at an unhurried pace.
Cassius followed quietly in his wake. And where Alpius’s steps finally halted was—
“Tiel.”
Before a bookshelf that stretched across an entire wall of the Head of House’s chambers.
Tiel tilted her head, bewildered.
‘There are so many books……’
No matter how high she looked, the volumes seemed never to end.
So this is what it means to be the Head of House—one must read an enormous number of books!
Still cradled in Alpius’s arms, Tiel gazed for a long moment at the ornate book spines, their covers dense with difficult characters.
“Press this book here.”
Alpius pointed to one of the plainest-looking volumes among them.
It appeared to be bound in aged leather.
Tiel nodded and reached out her small hand.
Ordinarily, her height would have made it impossible to touch the spine, but held as she was by Alpius, she was able to reach it without difficulty.
Click—
The moment Tiel pressed the spine, the massive bookshelf began to move with a mechanical whir.
The startled child instinctively burrowed deeper into Alpius’s embrace.
Alpius chuckled softly and patted her back reassuringly.
Click! Thunk, whirrrr—
The bookshelf groaned with that mechanical sound for some time before finally beginning to slide smoothly aside.
Tiel’s eyes widened at this marvel she had never witnessed before.
The shelves parted, and a vast chamber came into view.
“Whoa……”
“This is the Secret Chamber, known only to the Head of House of Asterion. Only those who carry Asterion’s bloodline can open its door.”
Alpius gently took Tiel’s small hand in his.
Tiel looked down at her own hand, turning it over slowly.
‘Only those who carry Asterion’s bloodline……’
“I suppose we won’t be needing a paternity test.”
Alpius smiled warmly.
Tiel nodded shyly.
Just now, Alpius had essentially acknowledged that she truly carried Asterion’s bloodline.
‘Grandfather has acknowledged me.’
So I really am the child of both of them.
A smile spread across Tiel’s face.
All the worries that had troubled the child until now melted away without a trace in an instant.
Alpius then stepped into the Secret Chamber with his smiling granddaughter still in his arms, and Cassius followed quietly behind.
The Secret Chamber was not what Tiel had expected.
Unlike the ornate and antiquated splendor of Alpius’s own chambers, the Secret Chamber was strikingly austere.
Or rather, it would be more accurate to say there was almost nothing in it at all.
Smooth stone walls, cut and finished with care, bore no decoration whatsoever.
Tiel examined the chamber with curious eyes.
In the far corners lay gold bars and jewels scattered about carelessly, while in the center of the vast space stood a small pedestal.
Yet there was no light source anywhere in the chamber.
Not even the faintest trace of candlewax could be seen.
And it was dark—so dark that one could barely see ahead.
Alpius strode forward and set Tiel down beside the pedestal.
“Tiel.”
“Yes, Grandfather?”
“This place has been passed down through the Asterion family since ancient times. It is a chamber meant for those who manifest the legendary Light Ability.”
“A chamber meant for those who possess the Light Ability……?”
“A chamber created for the legendary light itself.”
Alpius nodded slowly.
After a moment, he began to speak of things he had not yet told her.
“Everyone believes there are only two legends concerning the Light Ability.”
The legends that have been passed down through the generations of both Asterion and Nestian.
“But in truth, there is a third legend, one that has been kept hidden.”
“A hidden legend?”
“Yes.”
He ran his hand across the dust-covered pedestal, and dust clung thickly to his palm.
Tiel, uncertain what to do, took his hand gently.
“Grandfather, your hand is getting dirty……!”
“It’s all right. Now, let me tell you of the hidden legend. The hidden legend says……
Tiel opened her eyes wide and listened intently to his words.
Alpius drew out a handkerchief and carefully wiped the dust from Tiel’s small hands, then cleaned his own.
“Asterion and Nestian shall recover their true strength alongside the glorious light.”
Alpius recited the legend aloud.
Tiel, quite without meaning to, repeated his words.
“Alongside the glorious light……. They shall recover their true strength?”
Then Cassius, who had been standing quietly at her side, spoke up.
His gaze fixed upon his small daughter.
“Tiel, this may not apply to you. But both Asterion and Nestian are afflicted with Madness.”
“……Madness?”
“Yes. It is an ancient curse. When one uses their ability beyond a certain limit, the ability runs wild, attacking the user from within until it consumes them entirely.”
At his words, a face came suddenly to Tiel’s mind. Her eyes flew open wide.
“Is that why Ferdi——!”
“Yes. That’s why Ferdi went berserk. And Madness cannot ordinarily be stopped. It destroys everything around it and eventually the person themselves, until there’s nothing left. Ferdi has survived this long only because he’s still young—his ability isn’t yet strong enough to destroy himself completely.”
Madness flowing through the bloodline.
Tiel stared slowly down at the palm of her own hand.
‘It can’t be stopped? But I……I did stop it.’
Ferdi’s flames had certainly grown gentle as a lamb in Tiel’s arms, shrinking back meekly.
Seeing the confusion on his daughter’s face, Cassius knelt down.
He lowered himself so that their eyes met at the same level.
“That’s why you’re special, Tiel.”
……
“The glorious light shall restore the Light Ability and recover their true strength—that phrase speaks of curing the Madness.”
Cassius extended his hand to Tiel.
Tiel took it as if entranced, placing her small, pale hand atop his large, thick one.
“Tiel, this pedestal is meant for one who possesses the Light Ability.”
Cassius gently guided Tiel toward the pedestal.
Tiel set her jaw and nodded, stepping carefully onto the pedestal.
“Go ahead and climb up.”
Alpius spoke in a gentle voice. Tiel gathered her courage and placed both her feet firmly on the pedestal.
“……!!”
That was when—
The pedestal sank suddenly beneath her.
“Eek!”
Tiel started and dropped down instinctively where she stood.
The skirts of her dress spread out around her.
Boom……. Ku-boom-boom.
Mechanical sounds echoed through the Secret Chamber once more.
Cassius and Alpius held their breath, watching Tiel intently.
“Huh?”
Soon, a small light blossomed in Tiel’s palm.
Her eyes gleamed in the darkness. The tiny light grew brighter, swelling with each moment.
Tiel blinked slowly.
The light moved gently around the child at the rhythm of her breathing.
The long trail that followed gradually transformed into the shape of a fish’s fin.
“Father……”
Startled by the sudden turn of events, Tiel called out to him softly.
It was a word she had wanted to say for so long but never could.
It was a word she had yearned to speak, yet had kept locked deep within her heart.
“……Yes, little one.”
Cassius answered her tenderly.
Tiel’s eyes grew bright, and her face bloomed with radiance.
Soon, the light dancing around her began to grow larger still.
The light swelled until it seemed to consume the entire chamber, filling it with brilliant illumination.
Yet no matter how bright it became, it did not sting the eyes or cause them pain.
For Tiel’s light was such a light—a warm radiance that could embrace all the people in the world.
Before long, the stone walls bathed in that light began to glow brilliantly.
Tiel instinctively withdrew her ability.
Her light faded, leaving only the stone walls shining brilliantly in the darkness.
Cassius, Alpius, and Tiel all held their breath, watching the transformation of the Secret Chamber.
That was when—
Scriiiiitch—
“……!!”
Inscriptions carved into the glowing stone walls began to slowly reveal themselves.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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